How to Calculate Percentage Increase in Excel

I created this guide to show you how to calculate percentage increases using Excel. Well, as an Excel expert, I am here to guide you regarding this effective skill that you should learn. In athletics, when you want to monitor your fitness progress, in sales when you wish to observe the growth of your sales, in education when you want to monitor your improvement through test scores, you will need to calculate percentages. Get ready to be a top-notch Excel percentage expert; just keep on reading this article. 

Introduction to Percentage Increases

First, let me start with a simple question, what is a percentage increase? Percent change in value: It is the measure of the variation in value expressed in the form of a percentage of the initial value. For instance, if you obtained 80 in a test and then obtained 96 in the next test, it means that your score which was 80 has just risen to 96 - a rise of 20 percent. 

In Excel, it is easy to perform a percent increase between two values given in the form of a formula. We'll cover the two main methods: two methods namely, 

Using the percentage increase formula, and 

Using Excel’s GROWTH function. But each of them takes only a couple of clicks!

The Formula for Calculating Percentage Increase

Here are the step-by-step instructions for using the formula: 

1. Here, you should record the old and new values in two cells of the worksheet. To produce the test score example, type 80 in cell A1 and 96 in cell B1. 

2. In another cell, enter the formula: =(B1–A1)/A1

3. They just type in the numbers and hit enter and the percentage increase is computed and displayed to them! In our example, the function yields 0. 2 percent or 20 percent. 

This works because the formula entails the following computation: That is the actual percentage change = (new value – old value)/original amount. By right-clicking on the cell and selecting ‘Format Cell’, you can format the cell as a percentage to show the decimal value of 20%.

Using Excel's GROWTH Function 

Another simple approach is using Excel's pre-programmed GROWTH function: 

1. This is a traditional case where you input the old value in one cell and the new value in the other cell 

2. Right-click on the cell that contains the percentage increase result

3. Type =GROWTH( )

4. The formula inside the brackets would be: Select the cell with the original value and then the comma, the cell with the new value  

5. Type ‘)’ at the end of the bracket and press ‘Enter’.

Easy as that! The percentage increase is then calculated using Excel to give the percentage value. This yields the same result as the formula above but compresses it into a convenient function.

Conclusion

That will be all for now and I trust you found this beginner’s guide on calculating percentages in Excel helpful. The process of identifying the percentage variation between two given values is thus easy, whether through the simple formula or the efficient GROWTH function. With a little time and effort, anyone can become an Excel percentage expert!

Feel free to let me know in the comment section below if there are other Excel topics you’d like me to explain in detail. Many readers appreciate when a blogger helps them improve their working knowledge of Microsoft Excel. So, until the next time we meet, I hope you have a happy Excelling!